The voice of God
Sometimes my husband Brandon says, “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. Which do you want first?” I always ask for the bad news first. I like to end with the good news—and a sense of perspective. Today’s post includes three thought-provoking quotes from a famous philosopher. These quotes go from seemingly-bad news to interesting news to good news. In the end, I think you’ll appreciate them all—even the first quote that makes some of us say, “Ouch.”
We’ll also begin exploring The Lord’s Prayer. In the book of Matthew, chapters 5 through 7 are filled with key teachings of Jesus, straight from his mouth. Jesus sat on a mountain with his disciples around him. He began with The Beatitudes: “Blessed are….” Then Jesus taught about salt and light, anger, lust and much more. He also taught about praying and forgiving. Esteemed authors like J.I. Packer and R.C. Sproul have written books about The Model Prayer, and so have many others. We find Jesus’ prayer—The Lord’s Prayer—recorded in Matthew 6 (and also in Luke 11).
The Lord’s prayer
Some of us were raised reciting The Lord’s Prayer in church. Other Christians who’ve attended church for years don’t know it. The passage below gives us Jesus’ teaching segment that day about praying and forgiving—the before, during and after of The Lord’s Prayer.
“And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your inner chamber, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And in praying, do not use vain repetitions, as the unbelievers do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking.
“Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him. Therefore, you should pray this way:
‘Our Father in heaven, holy be your name.
Let your Kingdom come.
Let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’
“For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your wrongdoing.”
Matthew 6:5-15, New Heart English Bible
Since we’re in the Forgiving series* here on Choosing Peace, I’d like to look at The Lord’s Prayer—and the teachings before and after it—with a focus on the issue of forgiving. I hope to answer these questions and more. What does Jesus teach us about praying and about forgiving? How do we live out his teachings? How can we look at other parts of The Lord’s Prayer from a forgiving perspective?
*This post was originally written as part of the Forgiving series. It was moved later to the Christian Living series.
Straight-forward and pointed
In Matthew 6:5-15, quoted above, Jesus speaks very plainly. He is not ambiguous. He isn’t using flowery or poetic language. He isn’t telling a parable. There are no cultural expressions or historical contexts that make the meaning of what he said confusing or subject to various interpretations. I checked two online Greek translations to make sure I wasn’t missing something—Greek being the original language of the book of Matthew.
With all of that in mind, I must interject a stellar, pointed quote that clearly applies to this segment of scripture.
The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.
― Soren Kierkegaard
Danish theologian, philosopher and author
1813-1855
Please read that quote several times. Yes, I know it stings. That’s because it’s true.
Again and again and again
In the last sentence of the scripture passage (Matthew 6:5-15), Jesus says: “But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your wrongdoing.” When we’re in the “scheming swindler” mood, we might think—Well, maybe Jesus didn’t really mean that the way it sounds or Surely Jesus wasn’t talking to me.
Right.
In Mark 11:25, Jesus said: “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your wrongdoing” (NHEB). Hmmm. That sounds like an identical instruction to me. Kind of like the instructions we repeatedly give as parents: “Don’t hit me.” “Stop hitting.” “Use gentle hands.” Etcetera. Good parents speak instructions and correct bad behavior many, many, many times—until the desired concepts take root and blossom in each child.
The napkin
That reminds me of the years when our Logan wiped his mouth on his shirt sleeve while we were eating. I don’t know how many hundreds or thousands of times I said, “Use your napkin” or “Your sleeve is not a napkin.” Then one day, I never had to say that again. And I didn’t realize it at the time—that my words, my teaching had finally taken root. Praise the Lord. Moms and dads, you’ll have your own stories in The Napkin Department. Some funny. Some not-so-funny.
The word and the voice
And we know this.
God is the perfect parent.
In the last post, we reflected on Isaiah 55:8-9, how God sees and knows everything, and why we can trust him: “God’s ways are higher. His ways are better.”
Since God is the perfect parent, he repeats core instructions and truths again and again and again in his word. We need reminders. We need to hear things more than once. In reality, maybe hundreds or literally thousands of times. We need to picture spiritual truths lived out in real-life situations. (For a deep example, read Genesis chapter 37 and chapters 39 through 50 about the life of Joseph and drink in the repeated message—the core truth: “The Lord was with Joseph.”) In the Bible—God’s inspired, holy word—he gives us repeated instructions and truths, with real-life situations, and so much more.
Yes, our heavenly Father speaks to us powerfully through his word. God also speaks to us directly through the Holy Spirit—the still, small voice in our own hearts and minds. In times of hardship, people often lean in closer to God or start praying to him for the first time—or for the first time in a long time. God saved me during a very hard time in my life, through the power of prayer. To read about God’s megaphone, drink in this great C.S. Lewis quote.
From talking to listening
Every conversation has two or more participants. (To dig into Things That Are Not A Conversation, see this post.)
We can hold onto a misconception for many years—the belief that prayer is a one-way street: “We talk. God listens.” But doesn’t God have things to say directly to us? Isn’t that why he gives his children—followers of Jesus Christ—the gift of the Holy Spirit?
Many of us are comfortable with the talking part of prayer. What about the listening part. When we ask God a question, do we actually wait and listen for his answer? Do we?
I found I had less and less to say, until finally, I became silent, and began to listen. I discovered in the silence, the voice of God.
― Soren Kierkegaard
Danish theologian, philosopher and author
1813-1855
Coming close
Every healthy, close relationship requires honest communication. We each talk and we each listen. We speak truth and we hear truth. We give truth and we receive truth.
God desires a close relationship with us. He desires our spiritual transformation into the image of Jesus. As our perfect Father, God rejoices to see us lay down The Chain of Unforgiveness. Why? Because Jesus came to set us free.
The chain
Let’s review some essential truths from a previous post.
Unforgiveness is something that I carry. It’s something that’s added to my life. Something heavy. I don’t see rightly when I’m carrying The Chain of Unforgiveness. I mistakenly think that I just haven’t gotten around to forgiving yet and that I’m not impacted by my delay—my choice—my chain.
What’s going on inside of me isn’t the absence of forgiveness.
It’s the constant presence of unforgiveness.
And I can’t lay it down until I forgive. I won’t understand how heavy The Chain of Unforgiveness is until I lay it down.
…The power of pain
Unforgiveness ties us powerfully to something hurtful from the past. When we’re tied to sin, tied to pain, tied to anger, tied to the past, we’re facing the wrong way. We’re facing all the wrong things.
While we’re holding on to unforgiveness,
we’re walking toward the pain
instead of walking away from it.
To explore more of What Forgiving Is and Isn’t—including Point #15: Forgiving is the breaking of an unholy tie or bond—read this important post.
Quiet acknowledgment
When we quiet our minds and start to acknowledge the enormity of our own sin—the vastness of Christ’s forgiveness of us—that reality can help us muster the strength to forgive, the resolve to forgive, the humility to forgive, the gratitude to forgive and/or the peace to forgive.
If you’re having trouble acknowledging your own sin or seeing the vastness of God’s forgiveness of you, see this post. It will pop and deflate your Denial Balloon in a major way. Writing that post definitely annihilated my Denial Balloon. And that, Peaceful Readers, was a very good thing. It really was.
Question #1
The time has come to answer a pointed, uncomfortable and possibly-controversial question.
Is unforgiveness a sin? Is it contrary to God’s way?
Yes.
We don’t like to view it that way. We like to minimize unforgiveness. It’s not that big of a deal. I’ll take care of that later. Kind of like those dirty dishes piling up in the sink. My wise friend Meagan puts it this way: “Delayed obedience is disobedience.” Yes, indeed.
Taking out the trash
Remember this truth from the first post in this series, rightly entitled Do I Have To?
“Forgiving is like taking out the trash in my own heart and mind.”
Speaking of doing the dishes and taking out the trash, yours truly—Frankie Ann, The Truth-Seeker—would not win any housekeeping awards. I’m tidier than I used to be, for what that’s worth. I need to give big, hearty, “you’re the best” kudos to our precious maids—a husband and wife team that I’ll call Jose and Elena. They are golden. Thank you, God, for bringing Jose and Elena into our lives. One of our dogs howls with joy when he sees them coming. Our other dog, Logan’s golden retriever, whispers a quiet, Texas “howdy” with his happy tail-wagging.
Needing help—and gratitude
We need help. We really do. Some of us definitely need housekeeping help.
Here’s the thing. We all need God’s help. A lot. Sometimes we pray silently to God. Other times, we whisper to him quietly under our breath. Other times, we talk out loud and chitter-chatter to God while we’re driving in the car or simply going through our day. My pal Charlene says, “Thank you, Jesus!” I love that. We know that every good thing is from God’s generous, loving hand.
In the spot-on words from this VeggieTales song, we learn—or remember: “A thankful heart is a happy heart…. That’s why I say thanks every day.” When I think about that sweet song, Meagan comes to mind. She and I mention VeggieTales every now and then in our life group. And we smile, with treasured memories from years gone by.
The prayer
When we pray to God, we communicate different things at different times. We smile and say hi. We pour out our cries for help. We ask God for guidance. We express our feelings. We ask questions. We apologize and ask for God’s forgiveness. We thank him for our many blessings. And more.
Let’s close today’s post with a beautiful prayer from our Philosopher of The Day.
Father in Heaven, when the thought of Thee wakes in our hearts, let it not awaken like a frightened bird that flies about in dismay, but like a child waking from its sleep with a heavenly smile.
― Soren Kierkegaard
Danish theologian, philosopher and author
1813-1855
That prayer speaks peace, doesn’t it. Peace, peace to you.
Coming next: In part 3 of The Prayer, we’ll continue digging into the questions I asked earlier in this post. What does Jesus teach us about praying and about forgiving? How do we live out his teachings? How can we look at other parts of The Lord’s Prayer from a forgiving perspective? I’m looking forward to what I discover—what the Lord shows me.
Until then, thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Healing through truth and music
Peaceful Readers, I’ve found great healing in my life through the beauty and truth of God’s word and through music. I hope the truths and songs that I share at the end of each post will bless you too.
Truth from The Word: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Song for Healing: “Pray” by Sanctus Real